


i’ll always be around

by justasuperfan



Series: everything i didn’t say [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Nightmares, No Incest, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25432030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justasuperfan/pseuds/justasuperfan
Summary: in which vanya realizes she has secrets of her own(read “fire and ash” from “everything i didn’t say” series before reading.)
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: everything i didn’t say [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1841560
Kudos: 136





	i’ll always be around

“Hey, Five. Just wanted to...check in, I guess.” Vanya leaned against her brother's doorframe as he stood on his bed, scrawling more numbers and names on his wall.

“Everything’s going swell.” Five remarked sarcastically. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, um…” When Klaus had filled her in on Five’s flashback, he hadn’t made it clear whether she should let Five know that she knew about it or not. But how else would she explain her presence, when normally she just let him work in peace? “Klaus told me what happened. Are you okay?”

Her brother froze in the middle of an equation. Vanya watched him work his jaw back and forth like he always did when he was angry or frustrated. She really shouldn’t have said anything. She was such an idiot. Vanya should’ve stayed out of it, like she did with everything. ‘Stay out of it and watch silently from the sidelines, like a good girl.’ Her father had used to say. And when she finally stepped out of his shadow, this happened. 

“Why did he tell you?” Was all he had to say. Vanya had been expecting chastisement or insults or something, but all she got was her brother’s stale questions as he lowered his chalk slowly.

The truth was, Vanya didn’t really know why Klaus had told her. Maybe because he knew she had issues, too. Or maybe because he knew Five wouldn’t be too suspicious if she checked on him, rather than if Luther or Diego checked on him. But of course she wouldn’t admit any of that. “He’s just worried about you. You know you don’t have to face everything alone.”

“Yeah, but that’s how I prefer it.” He stepped down from his bed and picked up a copy of Vanya’s book. She took a few steps in and managed to see the equations written all over the first few pages. She was glad he’d found some use for it, unlike her siblings. Or her father.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He was silent. It made Vanya uncomfortable. She shifted and fidgeted with her shirt sleeve before he finally spoke. “When I was in the apocalypse, I was alone. No one to talk to, no one to ask for help—” His voice broke and Vanya felt her heart sink. “I learned how to be alone. So I don’t need any help.”

Of course Vanya knew how to be alone. After all, she’d been doing it for thirty years. Thirty years of being kicked out, excluded, forgotten. Thirty years of watching her siblings play and fight while she did her studies by herself. Thirty years of being told, over and over, that she wasn’t special. And nearly seventeen years of waiting at the door late at night, until Ben went to sleep. Seventeen years of putting out sandwiches and waiting for her best friend to come home. And now that he was back, he was treating her just like everyone else.

She left quietly. Tears began to stream down her face as she closed the door behind her. She’d been so stupid. Maybe she’d thought that getting Five to open up would give her a chance to confess her own problems. The problems that had been building up like a hurricane inside of her, and that she knew would destroy her from the inside out if she didn’t voice them.

That’s when she bumped right into Klaus.

“Ooh, are we playing bumper cars? I’m in. Don’t worry, I’m completely sober. Almost.” Klaus joked. Vanya tried to keep her head down, but her brother obviously noticed the tears on her cheeks. “Woah, hey, don’t cry. What’s wrong?”

She wiped her face with her sleeve. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought I could help him.” 

“What, Five? That grumpy old man can hold his own. He’ll be fine. But that’s not why you’re crying, is it?”

God, was she that readable? “It’s nothing.”

“Hey, I’ll listen. C’mon, let’s go to my room.”

He led the two of them down the stairs and down the hall until they got to his room. Vanya sat on the bed next to her brother, leaning into his embrace. She closed her eyes and smiled. Maybe someone did care after all. “I’m okay, just...I never forgot how everyone treated me like I was nothing. And how Leonard—or, Harold, finally treated me like I mattered. But the whole time he was just taking advantage of me. And then I h-hurt Allison,” She hiccupped and swallowed hard. “I’ll never forgive myself for everything I’ve done to hurt you all.” She already felt the hurricane in her chest easing into a rain.

And then they just sat there, Klaus rubbing her arms until she felt the tears disappearing. Then he spoke. “We all have demons, Vanya. All of us. And you were the best at hiding them.” He sighed. “I guess we should’ve checked in on you more.”

“What about you? We completely ignored you and you act like you’re fine.”

“Vanya. Look at me.” She did, meeting his watery eyes. Had she ever seen Klaus cry? “I love you. And I’m sorry that I even had to tell you that, because you should already know. And right now, I don’t need you to worry about me. You should go get some rest.”

She remembered the nightmares of blood staining her hands, of knives flying through the air, of that dark room. “C-Could I sleep in here? With you?”

“Sure.”

They spent the night talking, reading, and eating popcorn before they fell asleep. And for once, Vanya didn’t have any nightmares.


End file.
